This Week’s Influencer Marketing News Roundup

Influencer Marketing News Weekly: People Are Spending 30 Minutes Each Day On Snapchat, Instagram's Algorithm Affects Influencers, & More

In this week's influencer marketing roundup, we look at why marketers are placing greater value on influencer marketing collaborations in the wake of Instagram's algorithm update, explore Snapchat influencer Shonduras' new partnership with AT&T, and much more. Learn how much time the average Snapchat user spends on the app and see how popular live streaming app Periscope celebrated its 1 year anniversary.

Instagram's Algorithm Makes Influencers More Important

Though the full effect of Instagram's new algorithm (which rearranges the order of photos and videos based on engagement instead of when they were posted) is still largely unknown to marketers, a recent article in Marketing Magazine asserts that working with Instagrammers and other social media influencers to reach audiences is now more important that ever. Brands with smaller social media followings, especially, should consider developing influencer marketing campaigns, as their posts will now be pushed to the bottom of feeds and are thus less likely to be seen by users.

Snapchat Users Now Spend 25-30 Minutes A Day On App

According to a Business Insider report, Snapchat users now spend upwards of 30 minutes a day on Snapchat and 60% of active users are also creating new content (a boon for brands, because it means that Snapchat users are actively engaged in the platform). The BI article also highlights a Nielsen study commissioned by Snapchat which claims that the disappearing photo and video app reaches 41% of all 18 to 34-year-olds in the US—this compared to the top 15 US TV networks, which only reach 6% of the same demographic.

Periscope Celebrates 1 Year Anniversary

To celebrate its 1 year anniversary, Periscope announced a few key growth figures, which included: 1) the live streaming app has hosted over 200 million broadcasts since its inception, 2) Periscope currently accounts for 110 years of watch time each day, and 3) the app now claims approximately 10 million total users. Periscope recently crossed the 100 million broadcast mark in January, meaning that the number of broadcasts has doubled in just two months (Tubefilter).

Instagram Videos Now 60 Seconds Long

On Tuesday, Instagram announced that it will extend the time limit on videos on its network to 60 seconds starting immediately. While the 60-second video feature has been an option for advertisers since February, the decision by the photo- and video-sharing app to extend longer videos to all users is a sign that Instagram considered the update a success. Instagram also announced that it will be reintroducing the option to compile clips and stitch them together (much like Snapchat Stories), a move which will put Instagram in a better position to compete directly with Snapchat and YouTube (Washington Post).

Snapchat Influencer Shonduras Partners With AT&T For "Make My Monday"

An article in The Video Link details a new partnership between AT&T's Hello Lab and Snapchat star Shaun McBride aka Shonduras. The new series, entitled "Make My Monday,” aims to increase engagement by asking users to submit extreme challenge ideas (in the form of Snaps) for McBride to carry out; so far, notable suggestions include racing up an escalator, bungee jumping, and taking a bath in cereal.

Digital And TV Ad Spending Neck-In-Neck In U.S.

A recent study by eMarketer estimates that digital ad spending will be $68.82 billion (or 35.8% of total media ad spending) in the United States in 2016. This figure, which was recently revised due to strong Q4 digital ad spending, places U.S. digital ad spend just 1 percentage point below the share of the percentage of television advertising.

Michelle Phan's ICON Network Announces New Programming

YouTuber Michelle Phan’s ICON lifestyle network recently announced a myriad of original new shows (including "#LifeStyleGoals,"Natalie's Outlet," and SofiaStyled") to celebrate the success of its first year (see the video below). According to Tubefilter's Geoff Weiss, ICON also has plans to expand into Asia by year’s end, thus increasing the MCN's reach to large, previously untapped markets.